I'm going this evening to look at a 95 Explorer that the seller says lost second gear. I assume I'm looking at a full rebuild, but most of the "rebuild" kits I look at online are just gasket and seal sets.
Is there a preferred rebuild kit for these? I don't know yet if it's the 4R44E or the 4R55E, I'll know that tonight. It is the 4.0, so it's likely the 44.

 

It is a 4.0L, so unless someone has swapped something else in, it should be a 4R55e. This is the heavy duty one, the 4R44e is used on the 2.3L and 3.0L in the Ranger. The major rebuild parts between the two are actually the same, or nearly the same. The 4R55e uses a stronger planetary assembly, but the bands and clutches and valve body are rebuilt the same way unless otherwise noted.

Most of your problems are in or start in the valve body. Worn seals, worn bores, leaking gaskets, etc cause or contribute to many failures because it causes drops in line pressure, which in turn causes slipping and accelerated wear on the bands and clutches.

A loss of second gear is very often a broken band, but you won't know till you get in there. Unless you are very familiar with rebuilding transmissions, I would walk away from this one unless it is a sweetheart of a deal. Based on your questions and comments, I would say you are not well versed in rebuilding Ford light automatic transmissions.

Sonnax makes really good rebuild kits. But until you tear it apart, you cannot compile a parts list. You basically need a rebuild kit of some type plus parts. If it were mine and I was going in blind, I would budget for a complete clutch set, bands, all rubber seals, valve body kit, and a torque converter. You will also need a filter kit.

 

I'm actually quite experienced at rebuilding automatics, FWD and RWD, I just haven't dealt with this specific model yet. Not much that's outside my scope of abilities-
And yes, it's a clean straight running driving (aside from not having second gear) 95 Explorer for $800.

 

Ok, well, don't assume anything yet until you get it pulled apart.

If its a band, you will need new bands, and you can assume the clutches aren't faring much better. Replace all the bands, don't try to adjust them. These are not like the bands of old, they are designed to be initially adjusted when first installed. When they we are enough to start slipping, then they are pretty well worn out. If you tighten them then the remaining friction material can wear away, then you get the metal part of the band cutting into the drum which destroyers the drum. This can go on until the band snaps and then you lose gears entirely. In your case,t he drum might already be damaged, but there are other things that can cause a lose of a gear. A solenoid could be bad, and that is probably going to be cheaper to fix. Don't assume that to be the case either, yes the solenoid, see if it engages with a direct 12v apply. If it does, then you might have a bad connection somewhere.

The 4R44e or 4R55e is an all electronic evolution of the A4LD, so the basic mechanics are the same, the main things that change is that there are more solenoids, and the computer regulates the line level instead of letting a vacuum modulator do it.

If you can do the work yourself, then realistically the parts are not terribly expensive, and you can complete a basic rebuild for maybe less than $500. If it were mine, I would spend a little extra and upgrade a few components. These transmissions were really only ok in stock form. But with a few tweaks here and there, they can be made quite solid and dependable.

The main point to remember is that you do not want much slip. There will always be some slipping whenever a shift takes place. But there is a certain amount of slip that Ford engineered in that makes the shifts smooth feeling, but the trans sheds a lot of friction material, and wears out prematurely. You can take some of the slip out, which makes the shifts faster and a little harder. Slipping wastes power and produces heat, and sheds a lot of wear surfaces.

These factors kill transmission life. If you take a used trans and rebuild it to stock specs, it will probably not last as long as it originally did, but you can probably get your moneys worth out of it. If you upgrade it, you can make it much stronger than stock, and get a lot more life out of it.

I have a '97 Aerostar with an overbuilt 5R55e, which is a 5 speed version of the 4R55e. I have taken it to its maximum rated load capacity multiple times, and it doesn't even break a sweat. It puts on a lot of miles, many with heavy load and the added wind resistance of a trailer.

Even if you don't do much hauling, an overbuilt trans that gets regular fluid changes might actually outlast your engine.

 

I did end up buying it, I'll pick it up this weekend. Not quite as straight as it looked in the pics, there's a little front end damage, but I got it for $750. It's loaded, leather power everything, rear stereo controls, etc. Interior is nice.
I already ordered a kit with steels (never seen a transmission with bad clutches and good steels), bands and a shift improver kit. Total to my doorstep was $140.
I'm still up in the air about the torque converter, the fluid wasn't badly burnt so I may take it to a local rebuilder and have it flushed and checked.
I have a cooler sitting here waiting for it as well.
It won't see a whole lot of towing, but will have to make a few hauls at 2000-2500lbs in the next couple months.

 

one of the biggest mistakes a person can make with any auto tranny is to reuse the torque converter , you can never get one really clean and if one of the fins is ready to come loose you wont know till it is to late ! and if the fiber in there is gone , well ?

 

I wouldn't chance it, a torque converter is almost a given when rebuilding a trans.

 

When I bought my reman from Ford, it came with a reman torque converter; they would not sell any other way. I would assume this is true of Ford, especially with T.C.s containing a clutch. impish

 

reman TC are ones that the builder will cut a part and then replace all the insides with new parts and weld back together !
they can be built any way a person wants !

 

I haven't been able to find a TC for this through the normal channels- Anyone have a source for one?
Also, the end of the band was in the pan. It should be good to go in a couple more weeks.

 

i have a 91 explorer 4.0 with a a4ld ..i bought it really cheap with plans of repairing it for my daughter..according to the previous owner it is on its 3rd trans.. and the one in it now has problems..i removed the pan and checked what i could visually.. the selector valve "S" connector was very loose so i took one of the old trans apart removed the valve body which seemed to have some sort of upgraded parts in it . so i cleaned and reinstalled the better looking valve body.. now it seems like maybe some forward or direct drive clutch is locked..it acts like it is in forward gear even when in reverse, and i can feel it pulling even in park.. what i am thinking of doing is i have a newer trans from a wrecked truck 95? i think it may be a A4ld-e or something like that, because it looks very similar accept for the wiring connections.. i was wondering if most of the parts except maybe the case and valve body from it would switch into my housing and i can get away with just getting a gasket and rubber kit and slapping it together because i heard the new trans had better parts on it

 

Torque converters are easy to find. All you really need to know is what stall speed you need. PATC has them in various stall speeds, I'm sure you can find them elsewhere for a great deal. But the old TC needs to be replaced if you want to avoid Murphy's law.